CHAPTER 16. WAR OF THE STORM AND DRAGON QUEENS
KING'S LANDING
As usual Cassana is in the training yard, today she is surrounded by four men. They attack at the same time, but Cassana, blocks right, kicks to her left and as the man stumbles backwards, she throws the man she blocked into the man behind her. as they fall into a tangled mess Cassana attacks the man in front of her. She rains a series of blows and smashes him on the head. "Dead!" The Man at Arms declares. The man she kicked has recovered.
"Your Grace!" Maester Qyburn says walking up to them. He bows, "Our scout ships have spotted the Dragon Queen's fleet...They are at Dragonstone..."
"Convene my small council and summon Lord Strickland as well..." Cassana, Qyburn, Brienne, and Arya arrive first then one by one the others show up. "The time has come Lord Strickland for you and your men to earn the gold I've been paying you..."
"Where would you have us go?"
"To Dorne and invade..." There is a map on the table, "You will march your army to Blackhaven and take the castle...I will join you after I have sailed on Dragonstone..." Cassana dismisses everyone after they discuss supply lines and other war subjects. Then she goes to her room to dress in her armor. Then she with Brienne and the Knights of the Queen's Guard go to the docks and board a ship. Ten ships set sail from King's Landing and head Northeast. Two miles from the Island fortress Cassana walks onto the deck of the ship. Her hair starts blowing and bolts of lightening fly off the edges. Her eyes glow as clouds gather in the sky and the rain starts to fall.
DRAGONSTONE - DAENARYS
It starts to get dark and the wind kicks up, "Where is this coming from?" Daenarys asks walking to the opening in the map room.
"It's her she is here..." Lord Varys declares.
They watch from the map room as ships are overturned by strong winds. Lightening flashes in the sky, then suddenly a bolt of lightening strikes an Iron Born ship splitting in half. Another bolt hits the main mast of Euron's flagship. The next bolt goes through the ship, ricochets off the water and splits into four bolts striking four ships. The wind is too strong for the Dragons to fly so they land beside the castle. With every lightening strike and roll of thunder the Dragons roar. The Iron Born themselves had decided to remain aboard their ships as it is like home to them.
"My men..." Euron whispers as their cries echo across the water.
"I am so sorry..." Daenarys says.
"Sorry! Sorry!" He turns to face her, "I told you this would happen! I told you to strike first, but you would not listen to me..." He points at Varys, "Instead you listen to this fat Eunuch who is not even a real man..."
"Lower your tone You address your Queen..." Asher says.
"Queen! Ha! Some Queen...Now you will marry me woman...You will marry me and I will assume the mantle of King..."
"Grey Worm...Kill this fool..." Daenarys commands.
"Come on you cockless little shit..."
Grey Worm draws his sword and attacks, but Euron blocks and tries to hold his own. Euron has skill, but Grey Worm is faster and draws blood first. The duel ends after Grey Worm slashes Euron across the throat killing him. The storm lasts another three hours before it stops.
Daenarys has his body fed to her Dragons, "We lost over eight hundred ships." Asher says, "Most of them were Iron Born..."
"How many do we have left?"
A hundred and eight Iron Born and their crews...Two hundred and fifteen of our own ships...The three hundred ships we sent to Dorne have not returned yet..."
"I must strike back at her and with my Dragons..."
"You can't attack King's Landing...You burn the city with Dragonfire and the people will hate you..." Varys says speaking up.
"I'm not going to attack King's Landing...Yet..." She forcefully replies.
When the scout ships return Daenarys mounts Drogon, then she and the other two Dragons fly on Storm Ends and set the ancient castle ablaze. When the fire attack is done the castle is much like Harrenhal, with melted stone, burned timbers, and blown out walls.
CASSANA
She tried to hit the castle with lightening, but the old spells woven into the stones protect Dragonstone. When the majority Iron Born ships are destroyed Cassana ends her attacks and sails back to King's Landing. The heavy rains follow her ships to keep the Dragons from retaliating. When the fleet reaches the shoreline near the King's Wood Cassana marches across land to Haystack Hall where a large army is gathering.
From Haystack Hall she marches towards the Dornish Marches with 30,000 troops. When Cassana arrives at Blackhaven the last castle loyal to House Baratheon before entering the Dornish Marches the Golden Company is there resting from their long march.
"The Dragon Queen destroyed Storm's End with her Dragons..." Lady Esmerelda Dondarrion says in the main hall of his castle. She is the sister of Lord Beric Dondarrion and acting ruler of the castle
"Retaliation for destroying the Iron Born fleet..." Gendry says.
"Right..." She looks at Strickland, "Your men will fight in the vanguard..."
"Vanguard are not...My men will not charge a Dragon..."
"The Dragons will not be a problem...Trust me."
"If you have a plan then perhaps you should share it with all of us..."
"When I am ready...The Spider has ears everywhere..."
Fifty thousand troops march out from Blackhaven the next day. The trip is long, but moral is high and then men sing war songs as they go along. When they reach castle Wyl Cassana unleashes lightening from her hands and brings down the wall and main gate. Her army storms in and kills everyone except the children. She places the boys on ships to be sent to the wall and the girls to the Silent Sisters. A few days later Cassana marches up the Boneway to Kingsgrave where a Dornish army is gathering.
"How many?" she asks.
"Forty thousand strong your Grace..."
"And the Dragon Queen?"
"No sign of her..." Three days after arriving the two armies face off against one another. Cassana sits on her horse in the vanguard with Gendry, Brienne, Strickland, Warren Till, and the Queen's Guard.
Cassana looks at Gendry, "Whose commanding their forces?"
"Lord Anders Yronwood..."
"Let's test their metal...Heavy Calvary full attack..."
Strickland signals the Calvary commanders, then he urges his horse into a trot. The rest follow him into a full head on attack. Arrows fly from the enemy and eat through the ranks of horses and men. Cassana watches as her Calvary smashes through a wall of spears. Many horses and soldiers are killed. Then Cassana orders the Elephants in as the enemy sends its Calvary into a pincer attack. The enemy front lines are pushed back while Cassana's Elephants and archers rout the Calvary counter attack.
She looks at her infantry forces and signals with her hand, "Forward!" As soon as her infantry starts to take the battlefield a retreat is sounded.
Strickland rides up on his horse covered in blood and mud, "The enemy is retreating my Queen...Do we pursue?"
"No let them go...Hold position and make camp..."
YRONWOOD
Daenarys arrives at Yronwood with the rest of her army. "Our first encounter with the Storm Queen did not go well..." Prince Oberyn says. "We wanted to keep the army in tact that is why we called for a retreat..."
"How many does she have in the feild?"
"Fifty thousand..."
With arrival of the Dothraki, Daenarys' army numbers over 100,000 strong not including the men they lost in the first battle. "How many men did you lose?" Asher asks.
"Fewer than eight thousand..."
Asher points at the map, "We could cross the river and try to flank her from the rear..."
"She has scouts watching the river..." Anders says, but his voice is drowned out by a whistling sound. Then there is a huge green explosion. There are enemy ships on the river firing jars of wild fire at the castle and villages around it.
"Protect the Queen!" Prince Oberyn screams
Daenarys rushes to her Dragons and climbs onto Drogon's back. She commands the Dragon to fly and the other two Dragons follow them into the air. When she spots the ships on the river she urges Drogon to dive on them. "Dracarys!" Drogon blasts one of the ships with fire from his mouth. The ships explodes and the debris hits the other ships setting them on fire. A few ships try to escape, but Rhaegal and Viserion chase them down and set them on fire.
After the attack Daenarys orders half her army to cross the river, but Cassana's army has already marched on.
CASSANA
Cassana turns her forces back up the Boneway and through the Marshes to the Prince's Pass. Then she attacks Vulture's Roost and takes the castle after six days of fighting. "We wait here..." She commands walking through the halls as the Baratheon banners are placed over the Porter banners. "...I want men on duty at all times...Three watch shifts."
"Yes your Grace..." Gendry replies.
"I want scouts sent as far as Blackmont and spotters in the mountains..."
"Yes Your Grace..."
So far Cassana is winning the war. The ships she sent to bombard Yronwood were merchant ships she bought and converted to war galleys, so her fleet only suffered a loss in man power and wildfire. Cassana keeps the Wildfire traveling from castle to castle just in case Daenarys decides to attack her main forces with her Dragons. Three weeks pass before the enemy arrives at the castle to fight. This time Daenarys is with them and she has her three Dragons. Cassana's forces are divided into three groups; the one to the far left is arrayed with the Elephants in the Vanguard, infantry next, Archers, Calvary and finally the catapults and scorpions. The one in the center has the Infantry in the Vanguard, next is the horses, then the Elephants, Archers, and last scorpions and catapults. The one to the far right has catapults and scorpions in the vanguard followed by archers, infantry, and heavy Calvary; Horses then Elephants.
Cassana commands the center forces personally. With her army divided this way the enemy would have to divide its forces. Cassana waits for them to make the first move. After hours of waiting the Dothraki break away from main force and attack at full speed. At the same time Daenarys takes off on the black Dragon with the other two following. Cassana dismounts her horse and walks forward.
"Come to me you mad fuck..." She says just before the Dragons attack Cassana throws her hands up at the Dragons unleashing lightening from her hands. Meanwhile the scorpions fire at Daenarys and the black Dragon. The black Dragon shies away to avoid the projectiles while the other two Dragons are hit with lightening. The lightening doesn't kill them, but it does set their nervous systems on fire and drives them mad. They roar and screech in the air and fall from the sky. Rhaegal hits the ground in between the right and middle armies of Cassana's forces. The other Dragon strikes the trees and hits the ground. Almist immediately scorpions with chains and ropes attached are fired over the unconscious beasts pinning them to the ground.
Meanwhile the ground had been broken up and soaked in water. When the Dothraki charge their attack is halted by mud. Some horses break their legs, others fall to the side as horrible screeches fill the air. "ARCHERS! CATAPULTS! SCORPIONS! FIRE AT WILL!" Gendry screams. A hail of arrows and other projectiles are fired at the Dothraki decimating their ranks.
DAENARYS
Daenarys watches in horror as her two Dragons, her children fall from the sky and hit the ground. Tears fall down her cheeks as the enemy pins them to the ground with chains and ropes. She loops around and tries to attack, but the wind starts to kick up and lightening is hurled at Drogon from the air and the ground. So she urges Drogon to fly south and looks back longingly at her captive children. When Daenarys lands food is bought for Drogon to keep him from going hunting. With a blank stare she dismounts Drogon and walks through the camp ignoring everything going on around her. When she enters the cmmand tent it goes quiet.
"My Queen..."
"Leave me! I wish to be alone..." Slowly everyone departs the tent, Missandei is the last to leave. She sits alone for many hours.
"Excuse me Your Grace..." Missandei says coming to the tent. She does not answer, "Lord Anders suggests we break camp and fall back to Skyreach..."
Daenarys looks at Missandei, "Missandei...do you think she will kill my Dragons?"
"I hope not your Grace..."
"Tell Lord Anders to send scouts and see what has become of my Dragons..."
"Yes My Queen..."
Many hours later the flap opens and in walks Jorah Mormont, "My Queen!"
Daenarys leaps up from her chair and into his arms, "My Bear! My Strong Bear..." She shocks him by giving him a kiss on the mouth.
"My Queen..."
"I love you Jorah the Andel..." She takes a few steps back, "I didn't realize it until after you left..."
He smiles, "You don't know how long I have waited to hear those words..."
"Did you find a cure..."
He laughs, "Perhaps you should have asked that before kissing me..." She smiles with teary eyes, "...Yes I found a cure. A young man named Samwell Tarly...He cured me of the Grey Scale..." She rushes into his arms, "I know...Lord Anders sent the scouts...Your Dragons are alive..."
She starts kissing him again and they start removing each others clothes. After they make love Daenarys summons her advisors. "Lord Varys..."
"My Queen..."
"Do you know of any secret passages into Casterly Rock?"
"I do actually...Why?"
"Ser Jorah has given me a most excellent idea..."
CASSANA
"I say we kill them now!" Strickland yells in Cassana's command tent. "What if they get lose?"
"They won't!" She confidently replies, "As long as I shock them every two hours they will remain unconscious..."
"Why? Why won't you kill them?" Strickland asks.
Brienne's hand goes to her sword, "Be careful how address my Queen...You are not speaking to some lowly bar maid..."
"I mean no disrespect...Your Grace..."
"I am not offended...It is Brienne you had best not offend...As for the Dragons...She will want them back...I will use them to make her bend the knee...Then Westeros and Essos will be mine..."
"You play a dangerous game...and I want nothing more to do with this...I ask that you release me from contract..."
Cassana sighs, "Very well...Your men shall leave my camp peacefully and at night...The gold I promised upon termination of this contract is on a ship in King's Landing..." She looks at Gendry, "Lord Gendry send a Raven to King's Landing and tell them to sail for Braavos...Your gold will be deposited with the Iron Bank..."
"How do I know you aren't lying?"
Cassana stands up and as she does a light breeze blows through the tent, "You dare question my integrity Sir?"
He gulps, "No Your Grace..."
"Good now get out!"
"We cannot afford to lose the Golden Company...The Dragon Queen still commands a large army..." Ser Davos says.
She sighs, "Yes I know...Send Ravens to the Riverlands and the Vale...I will need their armies in the meantime while the Golden Company leaves we break camp and head back to Vulture's Roost..."
"And the Dragons?"
"Leave a large garrison with me and enough scorpions pointed at them...If she attacks her Dragons will die...But I doubt she will..."
When Night comes the Golden Company leaves for the Blackwater Rush where their ships are waiting to take them to Braavos. Ten thousand of Cassana's troops remain in the field to keep watch over the Dragons while the rest make for Vulture's Roost.
CASTERLY ROCK
Cassana had asked that Tyrion leave Casterly Rock and come to the Capitol, but he refused. The war was in the east and Casterly Rock is a fortress even against three Dragons. He sits in the main hall reading letters on the war from Cassana. "Your niece is quit the General..." Shae says.
Tyrion smiles, "Yes she is..." Shae had her baby, a boy Tyrion names Jaime after his brother. His Uncle Kevan had raised an army of six thousand men and is heading east to fight beside Cassana. It is night time and all is quiet. Daenarys had sent Lord Anders and Grey worm with twenty thousand men by ship to take Casterly Rock and kidnap Tyrion Lannister and his family. It is well known that Tyrion is her favorite Uncle.
Tyrion and Shae are awakened out of their sleep by the sound of bells. "My Lord We are under attack..." The Maester says to him. Half the army attacks Lannisport while the other half enters the castle via the secret passage. After several hours Tyrion, Shae, Baby Jaime, Genna Frey, Dorna, and her children are all captured and the castle taken.